The destruction of Ukraine's nuclear arsenal

KIEV - Twenty-five years ago, Ukraine possessed the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal. It had inherited 175 long-range missiles and more than 1,800 warheads after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Following two years of talks been the United States, Russia, and Ukraine, U.S. President Bill Clinton announced a breakthrough on January 10, 1994. Ukraine had agreed to remove all nuclear weapons from its soil in exchange for assurances that Russia would respect its sovereignty.

By the end of 2001, Ukraine had destroyed all of 46 of its intercontinental ballistic missile silos.

Most tactical nuclear weapons were transferred from Ukraine to Russia.

U.S. President Bill Clinton announced a breakthrough in talks between the United States, Russia, and Ukraine at a press conference in Brussels on January 10, 1994. He said Ukraine had agreed to remove all nuclear weapon from its soil, eliminating the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal.

Russian President Boris Yeltsin, U.S. President Bill Clinton, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, and British Prime Minister John Major signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in Budapest, Hungary, on December 5, 1994. Known as the Budapest Memorandum, the agreement officially dismantled Ukraine's nuclear arsenal.

The last SS-24 missile silo was blown up near the Ukrainian town of Pervomaysk on October 30, 2001. In all, 46 SS-24 intercontinental ballistic missile silos were destroyed.  - (ANA) -

AB/ANA/ 17 January 2019 - - -